Al-Araqib Village Destroyed for 131st Time

Israeli authorities demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib, in the Negev desert of southern Israel, for the 131st time, on Wednesday.

According to local sources, Israeli authorities and military vehicles stormed the village and evacuated the women, children, and the elderly of the village, leaving them without shelter.

Wednesday‚Äôs demolition of the Bedouin village marked the fourth time that the community was targeted since April of 2018, according to Ma’an News Agency.

Israeli demolitions of al-Araqib are carried out in the attempt to force the Bedouin population to relocate to government-zoned townships.

Like the 34 other Bedouin villages ‚Äúunrecognized‚ÄĚ by Israel, al-Araqib does not receive any services from the Israeli government, and is constantly subjected to the threats of expulsion and home demolition.

These “unrecognized” villages were established in the Negev soon after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, following the creation of the state of Israel, when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and made refugees.

Many Bedouins were forcibly transferred to the village sites during the 17-year period when Palestinians inside Israel were governed under Israeli military law, which ended shortly before Israel’s military takeover of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967.

Now, more than 60 years later, the Bedouin villages have yet to be legally recognized by Israel and live under constant threat of demolition and forcible removal.